SoR: The Next Level
by Stefan422
Summary: With Mr. X finally gone for good, Wood Oak City is finally able to permanently live in peace once again. Until a new horror arises to spread the darkness—more than The Syndicate ever could have. Blaze and the heroes are outmatched, but can a new ally help even the odds? Takes place after the Mania ending of Streets of Rage Remake. Seperate from my Firestorm series.
_Disclaimer: Streets of Rage is property of SEGA. I own no characters except my own._

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 **NOTE:** I am taking into account the events of Streets of Rage Remake in this universe's cannon, meaning that this fanfiction comes fifth in the sequence of events in the SoR timeline. And as usual, all canon characters will remain in-character. Enjoy!

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 **SoR: The Next Level**

 **Chapter One**

A young woman walked down the empty bright blue brick road at an unrushed pace, making relaxed strides as she passed things that would usually be found in a city; a fire hydrant, parked cars, lampposts. Her beautiful and captivating, yet unnatural red eyes were kept forward, lazily continuing to take in the nighttime aura that cast itself over Wood Oak. She let a slow smile cross her features as a gentle summer breeze stroked her features. The woman had only just noticed how her white Nike Runners thudded the street so softly as she continued to walk. She did not, however, feel her steel, necklace-like band bounce or move at all with her steps. That was because, it didn't. Her smile broadened somewhat, knowing that it was securely fastened around her neck. She grabbed one of the drawstrings on her unzipped hoodie and toyed with it as she continued to walk, idly kicking a pebble as she did so.

" _Well_. . ." A dark, imposing, and almost condescending male voice started after leaping down from a place unknown, landing neatly. He was of an average height, yet had highly defined muscles. "Look who we have here."

The woman was instantly on alert, having seen the man and recognized his voice. His attire gave it all away, a custom two-piece, pinstriped, hooded business suit. The tan suit was buttoned all the way up, and the hood was drawn. His face was not visible, due to being covered entirely by a white mask that had always reminded the woman of the _Phantom of the Opera_ mask. Only full. She frowned, gnashing her teeth after gawking in surprise. She was _oh_ so sourly surprised to see him again.

" _What the hell_?!" She roared, clenching her fists. " _What are you doing alive_?!"

"I've come to see _you, darling—_ "

" _Don't call me that_ ," She seethed, narrowing her eyes, before intensely snapping them open and bellowing with a frown:

" _ **Activate armour!**_ "

From there, thin strips of dark grey, straight and curved metal began to quickly configure itself from out of the almost microscopic compartments within the band and shape itself snugly over her toned body. The pieces began connecting themselves together as they came out, thus beginning to become one. Her legs and arms being wrapped in sleek dark grey metal, elbows and knees being covered by extra bits of jet black metal for extra protection there, and black metal ran itself around her feet, ankles and calves to form metal boots and around her hands and fingers to form gloves. Black sheaths had also began to take form on the armour, the metal of customized blades beginning to form around and inside said sheaths. Two katanas and a ninjato vertically across her back, wakizashis on the inside of her calves, and tantōs on the outside of her calves, all having fully solidified inside their respective sheaths, which seemed to be closely attached to the armour. The band itself was no longer around her neck.

Giving a loud, short snarl, the girl jammed down on one of the triggers in her left upper palm, with her left hand, too. It was made simple with her long, deft fingers. With the simple gesture, a single, yet sharp click was heard—one of her katanas had been unhinged. Reaching behind, she grabbed the handle and pulled, fully drawing the blade and sprinted fourth to attack him. He merely gave a short amused chuckle as she swung the gently curved blade down with great skill and force. He held his hand up, and as the sword was to strike him, it clashed against an invisible surface, creating a loud _clang_ and a shower of sparks, the surface momentarily becoming visible when the sword made contact. It was little more than an impossibly thin, two-dimensional, light blue layer of square shaped energy, but it kept him safe from the blow.

She moved slightly to get to a new angle and leaped at him, her long, waterfall braided blonde hair tossing as she spun 360 degrees in midair, still holding the sword, which she brought down again. Her efforts were met with the same result—blocked by a layer of energy commanded by the hooded man who bore an amused expression behind his mask.

He used the energy barrier to push her back as the sword connected this time, sending her backward as she came back to the ground, skidding slightly on her feet. He laughed, amused.

"My darling—"

"Told you not to call me that," She intoned, hate dripping from her words. She jammed another trigger, unhinging and drawing the other glinting katana. She got into an appropriate stance, anticipating another attempt at an attack when the suit-clad man began to speak to her.

"I've come to meet you not with the intention of ending your life _,_ but because I have news," The man continued, unnerved by her interruption. The grin could be _heard_ in his voice.

" _News_. . .?" She repeated, still frowning. She growled darkly. "If you've done _anything_ else to them, I swear to God—"

"They are unharmed," He replied honestly. His eyes flashed dangerously with his next words. "The news I bring concerns, _you_. Him as well."

The young woman's frown deepened. Her grip on the katanas tightened, yet she did not attempt another strike, only for the purpose of hearing him clearly. She had to _fight_ , however. Fight the blaring impulse to make to end him where he stood. For him, if for anyone. He would have wanted her to restrain herself. She knew it.

"What about us?" She demanded, retaining her stance.

"I have recently undertaken a career in the criminal arts. Yes, I have founded an organization known as the _Helvete Corporation_. It is only a matter of time before we fully unleash our forces upon this city."

He waited for a verbal response from the woman. When he got none, he continued on with his speech. The woman was silent, continuing to glare malevolently at him.

"If you thought the trials you'd faced years ago were daunting, just wait. I have assembled more than ten times the amount for my organization." He sneered, chuckling gleefully at the widening of her eyes and slight parting of her lips. But he had a point—on her side of the city, things had gotten to be. . .iffy In the last two months, as it seemed that crimes _had_ become more frequent, which now made sense. He was sending his men out to raise all holy hell. Giving the city's residents a taste of what was to come. The reports on the news said the perpetrators were merely robbers and things of that nature. . .he was going easy. Holding back.

 _You twisted fuc—_

"'Why?' you may be wondering?" He continued, placing his hands in his pockets. His somewhat mocking tone suddenly turned cold as his stare hardened. "What better way to exact my revenge on him than to tarnish his city? But make no mistake, I haven't forgotten about what stands before me. I'll personally cease _your_ existence later." He snarled, pointing a slightly shaking finger at her angrily.

" _I promise_ , we'll crush you _and_ your syndicate." The blonde girl solemnly vowed, her red eyes glinting viciously.

"Do you really think so?" He asked, turning his body 30 degrees to the left, preparing to take his leave. Addressing her a final time, he craned his head toward her on a low angle. "How cute. You think that you'll stand a chance, even with his help. Don't delude yourself, my adversary. Farewell."

He somersaulted, retreating into an alleyway. The girl followed with haste, only to find nothing in the alleyway he'd vanished into, save for a dim, flickering light, a lidless dumpster, and an orange stray cat that mewled and scampered away upon seeing her.

 _He probably jumped up to the roof by kicking off of these walls._ She thought knowingly, gazing upwards. She briefly entertained the idea of giving chase to engage him, but ultimately decided against it. Despite her capabilities, she knew her chances of beating him one-on-one were nonexistent. She sighed, deftly sheathing her katanas, applying slight pressure. The clicks she heard signified they were properly locked back in.

Now considerably less enraged now that the white-masked man was out of her presence, she began to come back around to her normal way of thinking. This wasn't like her. She wasn't remotely the type to just go charging in headfirst without regard like that. It happened in the past, too. Whenever she saw that monster of a man, she just saw red and _went_ for him. Nothing else seemed to matter, except reacting to that powerful impulse to kill. And she knew she'd feel the same way for anyone she'd developed an enmity with.

So he was back. And with an entire syndicate, no less. Helvete Corporation, he called it. He couldn't have picked a more appropriate name, knowing what he was willing to do. Still clad in the armour, the young woman ran her smooth fingers across her arm, across some of the the considerably spaced out, thin dips that went in pointed horizontal rows across her arm. She had to meet up with him, and explain the situation. Then they could start to wipe out the Helvete Corporation _and_ its leader. She hadn't seen him in person in a while, now, having only talked on the phone. It would be nice to see him again. They _were_ close friends, after all. These thoughts brought a pleasant smile to her visage.

There was a small issue, however.

She hadn't the slightest idea as to where to begin looking.

He lived on the other side of Wood Oak. She would've checked his house, but he had mentioned moving during their last chat over the phone, and she hadn't gotten a new address from him. She was about 15 minutes from her house, but opted not to drive. And besides, this was time sensitive. By car, it would've taken her _hours_ to get to Wood Oak's other half, and it was already getting late. So driving was out of the question.

She would simply have to get over to the other side of the city and start searching for him, and that was that. The girl caused her entire form to turn a solid, vivid red, which then darkened, and then faded away into disappearance. All seemingly within a single second.

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"Jesus, man, that was, like, the funniest movie. . ." Skate said between laughs as he exited the theater in the far back and headed toward the exit, followed closely by his friends. They'd gone to see a comedy, and a good one that consisted of lots of swearing, drinking, and clever sexual innuendo. The vigilantes had all been taking a well-deserved break and enjoying themselves since the city was officially safe from the threat of Mr. X and his Syndicate. And the group of terrorists known as Neo Chaos wasn't getting revived, that much was clear considering that their thugs had joined Mr. X's forces during his fourth and final strike on the city. And the new police force behaving cleanly certainly indicated that things were changing. They'd gotten a new judicial system and government, and once the corrupt figures were exposed by Blaze Fielding, there was no way the corrupted high-rankers were getting off easy. The officials and the entire police force were stripped of their positions and sentenced to life in prison for excessive abuse of power. Appropriate, seeing as they were under Mr. X's thumb. With The Syndicate gone for good, the city could truly revert to its earlier times of tranquility.

"So stupid," Blaze remarked, referring to the movie they'd just seen, although her lips were curled in an amused smile elicited by the movie. She shook her head.

"I gotta go with Skate on that one, Blaze," Adam pitched in, wiping tears of laughter away as he walked next to Blaze. "I haven't had a good laugh like that in months."

"It was pretty good," Axel said with a little smile, the film having made even him unsuccessful in repressing chuckles throughout.

Blaze craned her neck and smiled back at him. He'd been walking slightly behind them with Max, who'd thoroughly enjoyed himself as well. "Alright, alright, I guess it was pretty funny. You seem a little looser."

"Maybe I'm just in a good mood," Axel replied with a shrug of his broad shoulders. "Y'know, now that our work is done."

"I feel ya there, buddy," Rumbled Max from beside him, giving him a kindhearted slap on the back. He was wearing his wrestling trunks and a jacket with the single word 'Thunder' emblazoned across the back, along with his red wrestling boots. "Though I'm gonna miss beating X's goons into next week. That was fun."

"Of course you'd say that, Max," Adam scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"You know me too well." The wrestler grinned.

"Look at it this way—you'll get to focus all of your attention on your wrestling career." The boxer said. "One of their top stars leaving the circuit mid-season to come here can't be good for your salary, can it?"

"Got a point there," Max conceded with a chuckle. "Manager doesn't like it when I leave for any reason, really."

"But it's always worth it to see your awesome friends, though, right?" Skate called back, tossing his empty popcorn bag into a trash can as he skated on the carpet.

"Oh, you know it." Max smiled.

"Always good to see you too, man." Axel told Max giving him a small but sincere smile.

"Heh, appreciate it," Max chuckled. "So what's next for you? I know you mentioned possibly moving back out here. What's the story on that?"

"I've decided to stay where I am. I did say I was considering moving, but that was when I didn't know that X would have no chance of coming back again. I thought about it so I could be closer to the city if something involving The Syndicate came up."

Max nodded in understanding. "Ah. So you're just gonna enjoy easy life in the suburbs? I hear you."

"Besides, I'm closer to my dojo this way. I won't have to drive hours just to get to work."

"How's that going, by the way?" Adam asked.

"Alright. We still need to get some equipment replaced, but we'll manage for the time being."

"Equipment breaking in _Axel's_ dojo? Figures. It's bound to happen sometime when your teacher has anger issues." Skate loudly snarked, prompting a scoff of mild amusement from Axel.

"I didn't hear you complaining when his 'anger issues' were helping him mow down Mr. X's thugs." Blaze pointed out, smiling cleverly.

"She's got you there, bro!" Adam laughed, lightly slapping his brother on the shoulder, prompting Skate to laugh very shortly afterward.

"So what's on your agenda, Skate?" Blaze asked with a knowing smile. He grinned.

"Gonna veg out in front of the TV, eat snacks, skate, and play 360."

"Sounds like you've got it all planned out." Max commented, the group of them having now reached the main area of the complex.

"It's what he always does," Adam jumped in, smiling. "Especially during the summer."

"Yeah," Skate admitted, grinning ear to ear. It vanished as he suddenly became a bit more serious, and turned to Adam. "You're still going back to the force to help out Ma, right?"

"Of course," Adam replied in earnest tones. His job as a bodyguard hadn't paid much anyway, but that wasn't his main reason for going back to the force.

"Good," Skate said, his boyish smile once again taking over his features, before disappearing again, this time being replaced by great annoyance. "You know I'd be right beside you if not for that fucking stupid new rule about civilians not being allowed to help in field duties."

Adam frowned. With the new police force and Chief of Police, came new rules. Unfortunately, one of said new rules included the immediate apprehension of civilians who opted to help officers out in a hostile situation. Any civilian who tried to help would spend a night in a holding cell. Adam knew the new Chief of Police only implemented this new rule to keep innocents from getting hurt, but at the same time, he disagreed with it heartily. It was like assuming that everyone not wearing a badge was helpless to defend themselves from danger. And Adam knew that that was anything but the truth.

"Yeah. I hate that new rule, too, bro. But the Chief really cracks down on that one. He's already fired three officers for letting civilians help out, and I need to keep getting those checks so they can go towards getting Ma better health insurance."

"I thought she had UnitedHealthcare? What's wrong with them?" Axel asked, frowning in genuine confusion. They pushed open the door and waited outside for Zan, who opted to go for a walk rather than see the movie. He did, however, slightly join in on their conversations on their way to the theater, and would do so on the way back as well.

"They've been slipping lately. She fell down the stairs and broke her arm pretty bad the other day. Went to the hospital and told them what happened, and they said they didn't have a Suzanne Hunter on their list."

"So she's just dropped off their records?" Blaze asked.

"Yep. They told me that that was the eighth time they couldn't insure someone."

"Well that just sucks. Hope she'll recover fast." Max replied, crossing his arms.

"Me too." That was Blaze.

"Same here." Axel.

"Thanks guys," Adam said, nodding with a slight smile.

"Yeah, thanks. We're hoping she gets better soon, too." Skate said, also smiling at their words. His voice was softer than usual. Though with his next words, his attitude reverted to normal in order to return everyone to the good mood they'd been in a while ago.

"So, Blaze, what're you gonna do now that we've saved the city?"

The judoka smiled. "I'm gonna travel. Not sure where, but I've been thinking about Norway. . .but then again they say Paris is _amazing_. . .Oh! And then there's Brazil! And the Caribbean!"

Max scoffed in amusement and smirked. "I just might be joinin' you, there." They shared a short laugh together at Max's statement—Blaze knew how much the wrestler loved to be around nature.

"Go for it. You definitely owe it to yourself to take a vacation." Axel encouraged.

"Don't we all, though?" Blaze returned with a smile.

Axel let out a quiet and brief chuckle. "Good point."

Just then, Dr. Zan approached them, having returned from his stroll. He was wearing a tan trench coat so as not to invite the stares of pedestrians at his appearance.

"Hey," Blaze said. "Enjoy your walk?"

"Yes. I have, Blaze. Thank you." Zan answered simply, his elderly voice synthesized and layered.

"So are we all ready to head back now?" Adam asked, putting his hands in the pockets of his black jeans.

"Yeah, let's—"

Max's sentence was cut off by a terrified scream. The six heroes spun to see where it had come from. A woman coming out of the theater was sent stumbling back in fright when she saw an insane looking man skulk after her, his hands extended out in front of him, reaching for her throat. Before any of the vigilantes could do anything to resolve the situation, more screams quickly followed, not from civilians that had just seen the movie, but from more crazed men, who'd appeared from what seemed to be nowhere. They shook like they'd been on some sort of caffeine high, and they were foaming at the mouth. Literally. They more resembled rabid dogs than human beings, growling and drooling. Screams tore from the mouths of innocent civilians, who all turned and ran back into the theater where it was safe, per Adam's and Blaze's extremely urgent and loud request.

With the innocents out of harm's way, Blaze spun back around to see her and her friends being eyed hungrily, like slabs of tender meat by some of the people. Others were continuing to foam at the mouth, and some had even taken to moving about on all fours. These animal-like behaviors were causing uneasy thoughts to surface within the brunette's head. She got into her signature stance, ready to strike. The others did the same, and this seemed to act as a trigger, as the men attacked then.

" _What the fuck is this_?!" Skate roared, more to himself than anyone else. He'd assumed his fighting stance, bounding lightly in place, loosening himself up before suddenly going on the offensive, moving in and letting fists and feet fly into the chests of the men. He'd skated over to one of them, jumped, and brought his heel crashing down on his head. He would've done more, but he'd seen another one crawling toward him with great speed, and he sunk his teeth into the flesh of Skate's exposed leg, trying to devour it and him raw. The teen effortlessly pried the man from his leg and with one hand, tossed him with great ease, sending him skidding along the street, colliding bodily with a lamppost. "Sorry, but I'm not on the menu!"

"You think we should get lethal on these guys?" Axel called to Blaze as he spun to deliver a low roundhouse to a snarling man, taking out his legs. Blaze could tell he had suspicions as to what this was all about, and she would be untruthful to say that she did not share his suspensions, but she was never the one to make rash decisions, and this was certainly no exception.

"Not yet. We don't know the situation. These could be rogue mental patients for all we know. Just stick to knocking them out." Came the judoka's reply, loud enough for them all to hear, as she drove her knee into one's stomach, winding him. He was then Judo threw onto the pavement. Blaze turned quickly just in time to avoid rapid feral slashes from another one, and subdued him with a masterfully executed Judo takedown.

Zan, who'd long tossed his trenchcoat aside, was having a relatively easier time with the men, both due to their lack of combat prowess and reliance on savage tactics, and due to the fact that he was a cyborg, with thorough CQC training. His long arms were able to keep the hissing men at bay with punches to the chest, complemented by kicks to the head. With one hand, he grabbed an approaching one and slammed him to the hard concrete. Using another for a tiny boost of height, one of them lept, and attempted to gouge Zan's eyes out, but as he brought his fingers down to do it, the elderly cyborg grabbed his wrists and effortlessly broke them, unceremoniously dropping the man to the ground, who squealed in agony. Max came by and finished the job, leaping bodily onto the downed man, his shoulder having taken most of the impact with the man's stomach. He was winded, and knocked out. Max went to get up, and found himself surrounded by starved men, who all lunged at his neck at once, knocking him back down in trying to bite into it. Savagely, like with Skate they managed to bite into his skin and draw blood, but easily Max threw them all off with a roar as he got up, and combated them with punches, joined by Adam.

"This is one hell of a fight!" Max called to his companion, though despite his words, his expression was marked with curiosity and he frowned, looking at Adam when he got a second to breathe. "You think they're on PCP or somethin'?"

"Could be. . ." Adam muttered, breaking the nose of a man who'd insisted on biting especially deeply into his muscled arm. Blood had flecked across the man's tattered shirt with Adam's cross. "Or just straight-up psychos. . ."

Soon after, most of the group of presumed 'straight-up psychos' were rendered unconscious. The group of heroes had all taken some degree of damage, but were going to be fine in the long run. A final crazed man stood a short distance from them. He loosed an inhuman sounding howl of sorts, and charged them, his eyes rolled back into the sockets.

"I've got him!" Blaze told her friends as she moved to knock him out, stopping dead in her tracks after seeing a figure appear into existence mere feet in front of her, her form having flashed red before returning itself to what they inferred was its regular colour. The figure, presumed to be a woman due to her waterfall braided hair, slashed diagonally downwards with a katana, cleanly splitting their final maddened attacker in two messy halves—and thus splattering the area below them in gore. Then, without flourish, the woman returned the katana to its sheath with a resounding click, which mildly surprised Blaze, who didn't miss the slightest details about this woman. She didn't know of any sort of sheath that clicked when the sword was reinserted into it. Blaze was instantly on guard, especially upon spotting numerous other sheathed weapons on her calves and back. She'd never seen someone so visibly armed to the teeth. That along with the fact that her storage devices apparently made noises led Blaze to believe that this woman could have been dangerous.

Zan's eyebrows inclined slightly. He instantly recognized the idea of a clicking noise when a sword was sheathed.

With no more of the men in sight, the woman turned around to reveal an incredibly beautiful face. She had to be somewhere in her 20's, Blaze guessed. She had light olive skin, which paired wonderfully with her lurid red eyes and her appealingly glossed lips. Her braided hair was long, blonde, and wavy. But what been truly standing out to them was her appearance below the neck, where the metal armour started, dark grey, predominantly, with bits of black, most notably on her hands, feet, and knees. She wore a placid, yet friendly expression. She opened her mouth to speak when something past Blaze seemed to catch her eye. She moved slightly to the left to get a better look, and her face lit up upon confirming that she did indeed see Dr. Gilbert Zan, who had also moved slightly to his left to confirm his suspicions.

"Zan!" The woman said, jogging over to embrace him. Zan chuckled, and reciprocated the gesture, gently wrapping his metal arms around her.

"It has been a while, Salvo." He said, his lips turning up in a small, sentimental smile. It might've been a tiny grin, even. Blaze couldn't tell. The look of wariness had been replaced with one of mild confusion, reflecting her curiosity as to who this 'Salvo' woman was to Zan. Though whatever the case might've been, she obviously meant alot to him. She could tell that her friends felt similarly, as they all eyed the two, who were just ending their hug.

"Everyone, this is Salvo Medaglia," Zan introduced, technically completing the answer to everyone's unspoken question. "My dearest friend." The girl, Salvo, waved shortly.

"Well, we're glad to meet you, Salvo. Thanks for the assistance. I'm—"

"Blaze Fielding." She finished with a kind smile. "Zan's told me all about you, Axel, Adam, Skate, and Max." Salvo looked to each person respectively. "It's great to finally meet you all in person."

"So what's with all the metal? You a cyborg too?" Skate wondered. Salvo just smiled.

"Deactivate armour."

Before their eyes, Salvo's armour began to detach into its separate pieces and retract itself from her body. The pieces once again assumed the shape of the metal band that resumed its position around her neck, leaving her once again clad in a thin light grey hoodie, jeans, and white Nike Runners.

"Nope. Perfectly human. That was just a durable, strength increasing armour. One equipped with seven swords, that is."

She was simply stating facts—impressive facts, yet instead of sounding condescending or pretentious, there was an air of humility to her words. She didn't preconceive herself as being any better individuals than they were, and she was simply what could only be described as golden-hearted in demeanour.

"Now _that's_ badass!" Skate enthused, grinning.

Salvo chuckled. "Yeah, it does come in handy during fights."

"I'll bet. Did Zan have that built when you two met?" Max asked.

"Sort of. But our first meeting four years ago had gone a little different than just that." Salvo responded, removing her hoodie and tying it into a neat bowlike shape around her slim waist, displaying the white tank top she'd been wearing underneath. She felt the summertime air stroke her bare arms immediately as she did so.

"I'd like to hear it." Blaze said.

"Well, Zan and I met on the street one day when he said he'd detected Rakushin in me. He told me—"

"I gotta stop you right there. You said he detected _Rakushin_ inside of you?" Adam interjected, his, and everyone else's faces excluding Zan's, contorted into a mixture of shock and confusion. And rightfully so.

Salvo gave a small laugh. "Yep. The Devil Atom. I was born with it in my bloodstream, which naturally made me immune to it, and allowed me to teleport and channel it into what I call _Rakushin flames_."

"How, though? If you were born with it in your body you'd have been dead in months." Axel pointed out.

"My genetic makeup was able to contain it and allow me to directly tap into its radioactivity. Since it's constantly running through my system, it's always available for me to use." She answered, pausing slightly. "Anyway, Zan told me it was important that I come with him to RoboCy so they could analyze me with one of their machines. See if I was a danger to anyone in the city."

"Wait. . .I thought the Rakushin thing only happened that one time last year." Max said, frowning.

"We had only had a stray quantity detonate last year," Zan clarified. "I had long discovered Rakushin, and our sensors detected some within Salvo's being prior to that time."

"Ah." Max said, understanding.

"You can imagine my surprise when Zan told me I had radiation running in my blood and that it had to do with the flames I'd been summoning since the 3rd grade." Salvo chuckled. Despite her words, it actually wasn't that easy to imagine someone so serene in a state of great surprise. Though the circumstances gave her leeway. Not many people could remain straight-faced upon hearing they'd had a deadly substance inside of them since birth.

"I told him he was the only doctor that was able to explain my genetics. Even my red eyes confused all of the others I'd seen as a child." She laughed lightly and casually, remembering the lack of befuddlement that Zan had shown when she was analyzed. "But that was because none of the doctors had tech on par with RoboCy's at the time, which is why none of them could pick up the radiation in my body."

"That's correct." Zan said.

"From there, we really got close. I told him that I did martial arts, and we even managed to learn a few things from each other."

"What do you do?" Axel asked.

"Krav Maga."

"So you like to fight dirty, huh?" The dojo owner inquired, familiar with the fighting style, although he personally didn't center it around his own go-to tactics.

"No, no. I've mastered the style, but I cut all of the cheap and underhanded stuff out of my moveset entirely. I take pride in how I fight."

"Huh." Axel said simply, giving a single, slow nod. "So what else?"

"After I told him what I was capable of, he gave me the opportunity to test out the suit in its experimental stage," Salvo rubbed the metal band around her neck between her thumb and forefinger for emphasis. "It was originally intended to be used by the FBI. They wanted it for a particularly nasty case they'd been trying to solve."

"So how'd you get it?" Skate asked, deeply curious.

Salvo smirked. "Zan and the other scientists involved ultimately decided that they'd go with something else and scrap the armour. I told them how much it sucked that such a cool suit would go to waste, and they did say I'd get payed for my testing services, so. . ."

"You got to keep it." Skate finished with a smile.

"Bingo." Salvo remarked, displaying her pearly whites as she smiled.

"We even offered her a part time job at RoboCy in a similar field, but she was unfortunately unable to fit that into her schedule. What with having to attend college and whatnot." Zan informed.

"Yeah. . ." The Rakushin-infused girl sighed with a rueful smile. "But it's still great to hear that RoboCy is getting rebuilt."

"And on the straight and narrow," Blaze added. "The Syndicate's fall should have severed all ties with that company."

That was music to everyone's ears, especially to Blaze's, Zan's, and Salvo's. A legitimate research company was being restored to its former roots—helping people through the wonders of science, rather than acting as a front to Mr. X's vile ambitions.

"Getting to see you in person is a wondrous surprise, but however did you know where to find me, Salvo?" Zan couldn't help but to ask.

"I didn't, really. I was just. . .looking for you when I caught the end of the fight there. I didn't know it was you guys at first, so I just finished that last dude off." She explained, waving a hand in the direction of the severed corpse. The summer air was starting to dry it's blood. A chilling breeze suddenly swept across the lot of them. Salvo's tone with her next words matched.

"You really should have killed these guys, though."

Everyone was shocked. Not at Salvo's words, but at her sudden change in demeanor. She'd gone from sounding warm one moment, to dead serious the next. And her voice was especially. . .soft, too, as she spoke the words.

"We don't kill unless it's absolutely necessary. You know this." Zan said simply.

Salvo couldn't bring herself to verbally respond to that one. She'd definitely been affected by the news of their old enemy's return, but he would be, too. And she knew it. She didn't want to say it, but it was undoubtedly required of her. It was why she'd come to seek him out in the first place, after all. She continued to look ahead into his eyes, with that dire look. Her brow furrowed with perceptiveness that only he, among several few others, could've possibly picked up on. She mentally cursed the circumstances.

"Salvo," Zan spoke lowly, now also sounding gravely serious, as well as curious. He'd picked up on the signals. The others traded lightning-quick glances, before returning their collective gazes back to the two longtime friends. "What are you saying?"

" _It's him. He's back_." Salvo almost whispered. Zan gazed back at her, quickly gaining an idea of what she could've meant. He looked deeper into her expression, and behind the seriousness in her red pupils, he saw it. . .he saw bad memories, pain, and a silent, but strong killing desire.

The others figured that Salvo probably wasn't referring to Mr. X based on their interaction, but also because it would've been entirely unrealistic. Mr. X had no chance of coming back. They'd completely destroyed all remnants of the specialist lab used to revive him time and time again.

" _No_. . ." Zan said, his layered voice having dropped to a synthesized, dark murmur filled with disbelief.

"It's true."

Zan's head dropped in a slow, eerie manner, while his eyes closed in a similar manner. His metal fists clenched with force that caused the metals of his palm and fingers to scrape against one another on each hand, creating a quiet grinding sound.

" _ **Damn it. Damn it all.**_ " He growled in a low, almost downright _evil_ sounding way that nobody had ever heard before, barring Salvo, of course. Everyone else on the other hand, cast surprised looks, but kept them in a non-obvious fashion. Zan had his moments, but this type of anger was unlike anything they could've expected from him. Before any of them could ask who could have possibly drawn such a reaction from him, he was speaking once more, having somewhat regained his bearings from what Salvo had told him.

"How do you know this?" Was Zan's reply.

"Before I came here, I ran into him down by my way."

". . .Did you engage him?" Zan asked seriously, knowing how the man operated. He didn't attack those whom he saw as his enemies right away. If there was a fight, Salvo had to have started it.

"Y-yeah." Salvo responded with no small amount of shame. She could have lied to him, but somehow found herself unable to.

Zan was suddenly livid. " _Have you gone mad?! If he'd gotten a mind to, he would have—_ "

"I know, I know," She said, rubbing her forehead. She was angry at her impulsiveness. She knew it was out of concern, but his anger was warranted. She had been in the wrong and she knew it. "It was stupid of me. . . _God_ , I just really hate that bastard."

"As do I." Zan's expression softened understandingly, he'd placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke softly. His attention turned to the mass of unmoving bodies. "Those men we incapacitated. . .it all makes sense now."

" _What_? What's this about?" Skate frowned, finally voicing his surprise at Zan's previous stygian behavior. He was becoming incredibly curious by the elderly cyborg's cryptic speech. "Who has you so guys so pissed off?"

"A man named Herminius," Salvo answered the boy, before aiming her words towards all of the vigilantes at once. "Trust me, he'd make that Mr. X guy you all fought look like nothing. He told me that he assembled a force called The Helvete Corporation. It's had a hold on the city for the last three months."

"That's impossible!" Axel frowned. He lowered his voice slightly, but it was still loud enough to be on the edge of shouting volume. "All of the corruption was washed out after we took down X in that exact timeframe. There were clean officials at the ready to take over for all of the corrupt ones."

"And it's only been, what, three months?" Adam added in a less heated fashion. "Even Mr. X put a few years into forming The Syndicate before he could begin to put his plan into action."

"Axel, Adam, Herminius has far more influence than Mr. X could have hoped to acquire. His criminal record has made him an ideal figure for criminals to work under. He kills simply for enjoyment, and has single-handedly destroyed entire divisions of Lima Secret Service agents. He also never sleeps when in the midst of rallying his forces. That's part of how he was able to get the city in such a state."

The other vigilantes had to ponder how Salvo and Zan knew of this information concerning Herminius. They were speaking as if he'd corrupted the city before Mr. X did, which was highly unlikely due to the fact that they would have clearly noticed the increase of crime and the lack of police activity—which there was none of. . .at least not before X got a grasp on the city. There was obviously something they didn't know, but Blaze, Axel, Adam, Skate, and Max could sense it was a more personal matter, especially considering the exchange they'd seen between the two. All had decided not to bring this to attention for the time being out of respect, and ask only necessary questions.

"There's still something I don't get. If the city's been 'corrupted' for around three months, why have the WOPD officers been acting clean? Are you saying they've been putting up a front?" Adam asked, crossing his strong arms. While he wasn't an officer at the time, Adam had still chosen to keep a keen eye on the WOPD's actions, through the help of Murphy (which he knew for a fact would always be a good cop), and by tuning into news broadcasts, morning, noon, and night. At the time, they'd appeared to have gone back to being an honest police department, but what Salvo was telling him was quickly beginning to change his perspective on the matter.

"That's exactly what's going on," Salvo nodded. "Herminius has already told the WOPD officers in my area to ease out of the act. They've been letting more and more crimes go unpunished. Right now it's just relatively small stuff, like robberies, but I know it's going to get worse."

"But why take that course of action? Why wait to unleash hell?" A rather puzzled Max asked. "These crime bosses usually can't wait to tyrannize"

"Opression really isn't his style. He usually sticks to murder. He's only doing this to get revenge on Zan for his death—courtesy of us." Salvo informed, memories of that fateful day, good and bad, resurfacing. "As for why he's waiting to go all-out, my only guess is he's trying to trick everyone into thinking they're finally safe before making their lives miserable again. It'd fit his way of thinking."

"How is he even alive? I remember it—even after we'd killed him. . .you continued on to mutilate his corpse beyond recognition." Zan said, flashing back to the day of the gruesome fight. Salvo truly had put her blades to use, slashing like a woman possessed. She could've simply incinerated his dead carcass with a blast of Rakushin flames, but she instead opted to send chunks of flesh, internal organs, and of course, blood flying about. 'Mutilated' was putting lightly what had become of Herminius at the time.

 _Shit!_ Skate thought, wide-eyed. He normally would have said it out loud, but Zan's revelation had rendered him speechless—having shocked him at the very least. He already hadn't expected to hear someone getting ripped to hell on what he thought would be an ordinary day now that their longtime enemy had been disposed of, but the fact that Salvo had done was what really surprised. A part of him really couldn't picture someone so nice and unruffled doing such extensive damage to a person. Even still, Sammy Hunter was no fool. At this point, he knew that there was some history between her and this Herminius dude. Planning to ask about it at a later time, the teen glanced briefly at Adam, Max and Axel, especially noting how the latter didn't seem to miss the short gleam of satisfaction in her eye upon being reminded of that specific event. Skate's three comrades were growing more curious due to what Zan had said, too. That much was obvious. Even Blaze seemed to give Salvo a somewhat intent, but non-obvious stare.

"Yeah. . .I have no idea how it could've happened either. He's not immortal, and he clearly died like you just said. . ." Salvo remarked, furrowing in confusion at the end.

Blaze slowly nodded in understanding. " _Herminius_ , huh. . .?" She uttered to herself with a frown, instantly taking a disliking to Herminius. His name sounded like someone out of Greek mythology to Blaze, but she was sure that that wasn't the case. Either way, though, she would see to it that he was brought down. The Syndicate may not have been around anymore, but this was her city. She and her friends would defend it with their lives. "Then he sent those psychos here."

Salvo nodded, her following words sounding somewhat blasé. She waved a slender hand in the direction of the fallen bodies. "And those guys you took down were cannibals. Not all of them were—some were just crazy, but there were definitely some among the group that were anthropophagists."

The vigilantes certainly didn't see that one coming. Sure, ninjas, mutants, even kangaroos and especially robots were nothing new to them, Mr. X had never employed cannibals into The Syndicate's tiers. The man was clearly disturbed, so it was actually a bit of a mystery why he hadn't thought of it.

"So those bastards were seriously trying to eat us alive. . .!" Max uttered, in shock. He realized what could've become of him. A much more gruesome fate than just a simple death.

" _Shit_. . ." Adam said frowning.

" _Tch_. Explains all of the biting, then." Axel intoned after a short, surprised silence, putting his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"Holy crap!" Skate blurted out.

"And I thought they were just escaped mental patients! That's the only reason why I didn't kill them. . ." Blaze said, trailing off.

Salvo nodded. She studied them. None of their expressions or body languages reflected fear—just surprise. An ordinary person would have fainted from shock at hearing they could've been a cannibal's, but Blaze and her friends? They were just thrown off guard now knowing some of those men were man-eaters rather than just anticipated psychopaths. Zan was right. Not that she'd doubted his assessment, but these people were true warriors. "And did you notice how sharp their teeth were?"

"Yeah. One of them bit in pretty deep." Skate said, eying the puncture wounds on his right calf, directly above his knee. The blood had ran down his right leg and into his rollerblade, but was now drying.

"That's because he sharpens their teeth to a point. Better chance of injuring a person." Salvo paused. "They weren't always like this, you know."

Adam was curious as to how she could be so sure about that small detail. "Were they brainwashed?"

"Sort of. Herminius injects normal people with a drug that turns them into starving cannibals. Ones that won't eat _him_ that is."

"And that's not all. He additionally injects innocents with a different type of serum that eats away at their very brains, destroying all traces of their sanity. It causes them to froth at the mouth. The effects of both drugs are irreversible and disallow coherent speech."

"My God. . .it turns them into monsters. . ." Blaze uttered just above a whisper. It was inhumane what Herminius did to get psychopaths and cannibals on his side. Blaze wasn't sure what he did to Salvo to make her want to reduce him to shredded nothings, but from that detail alone, she didn't blame the blonde for reacting so. . .excessively.

"And I'm afraid that's not all, either," Zan said, his elderly face set in a sombre frown. "He will also attempt to dispatch the armed forces as well." Salvo gave a brief nod and a short 'Yeah,' to silently emphasize that they all be in top form throughout. Yet, she seemed to entirely lack the grimness that was plastered all over Zan's elderly visage. It was a simple, laconic utterance, yet she seemed collected, unshaken, and cognizant that they would be dealing with such a formidable faction.

"We're gonna be fighting the friggin' _army_?!" Skate bellowed, wide-eyed. From where she stood, Salvo couldn't help but smile and shake her head bemusedly at the grin that had broken out across the teen's face.

"We might be. General Petrov and Zan _are_ good friends, so he might be able to stop Herminius' attempts. But if he can't, then yeah. Army's coming in. Tanks, jets, soldiers, of course—the whole deal."

The ever-relaxed look had remained on Salvo's face when she'd gone into detail about how the military had been corrupted as well. Men who had been trained to defend Lima from threats and terrorists, and was even on par with such forces as the Chinese Army, the US Army, and the Russian Army. Blaze was shocked at Salvo's ability to remain so calm. Surely she knew who Lima's armed forces had defeated before, and how how efficient their technology and vehicles were. Blaze herself hadn't been remotely scared either, definitely surprised, as were her friends (even _Axel's_ eyebrows seemed to raise slightly), but she just felt that if it had been her delivering such news, it wouldn't have come out so. . .casual-sounding.

"This is just _too_ cool!" The teen exclaimed, his youthful visage having retained the unrestrained grin. Blaze looked at Skate warily. She feared that he didn't get how serious this had gotten. She voiced her concern.

"Just don't get too cocky, Skate. Don't forget we forced Germany to retreat in WWII when they sent men in." Blaze cautioned, using 'we' in the context of the country's military. "Our military is no joke."

"Yeah, I know, Blaze," Skate said. "They're beasts. But so are we. If we took out the Kusanagi, Hakuyo, and Ninjo clans, we can take the military's soldiers on."

Blaze considered his words. The three aforementioned groups had certainly been no cakewalk. . .now that she thought about it, they were on the same level, if not more fierce than any military force. And no matter how well Lima's soldiers had been trained, she was certain none of them could practically step in between automatic gunfire, drive their bare fists and feet through thick concrete barriers, or perform Grand Uppers. . .or even Kikoshous for that matter. She smiled.

"I guess you're right," She conceded with a little laugh. Her next words were said with a tad of humor. "Just be on the top of your game, young man."

"I got it," He grinned. "Focus when fucking up soldiers. _Capiche_."

Salvo joined in on the banter. "Wow. I must be rubbing off on you already."

"Oh, so you're Italian?" Skate assumed.

"Yep," Salvo answered happily. "Wouldn't rather be anything else."

"How many Americans have the last name 'Medaglia', little bro?" Adam demanded good-naturedly.

"Point," Salvo agreed, snickering.

"You guys suck," Skate said jokingly. The exchange was broken by Zan, who returned the conversation to the corrupt army.

"Regarding the military issue, I can contact Ivan and request him to cordon off a good most of their vehicles to make our task easier, and request that his closest and purest companions within the army see to it that Herminius, or anyone else doesn't get access to them."

Blaze gave a slight purse of the lips and nodded firmly. "Sounds good."

"You have to wonder why X didn't think this far," Axel commented. "Sending the army after us. He could've done it after all—he had the entire city in his pocket."

Max shrugged his giant shoulders. "Guy probably thought the ninjas were just as good."

"Probably," Axel dryly concurred.

"We'll still have to fight the soldiers, though, regardless of what Ivan can do for us." Zan added.

"And that's completely fine. We can all hold our own. And besides—now we've got a woman with Rakushin running through her veins fighting with us," Adam said with a cheerful grin, placing a hand on Salvo's shoulder—the aforementioned woman having laughed easily upon hearing the soon-to-be cop's description of her.

"We'll also need Murphy for this. . ." Axel began seriously. He wasn't contradicting Adam's statement regarding Salvo, (and she seemed to acknowledge that judging by her lack of a change in expression) he'd merely stated that he felt that they'd need the young cop to provide extra firepower to help them through Herminius' men.

"Don't sweat it, man," I can call him up once we're all done talking here." Adam offered.

"So what else'll get thrown our way?" Max said with a curious smile.

Salvo smirked. "Robots, assassins, and the ordinary thugs. There's a chance S.W.A.T'll show up, but beside that, it's pretty much the usual for you guys, right?"

Blaze chuckled, tossing her beautiful brown hair. "Another day in the office."

"So it's us against a syndicate that's gonna have cannibals and the army on its side?" Adam inquired rhetorically. " _Tch_. And I thought life would be normal after The Syndicate's fall."

Axel couldn't help but agree. His face set into a grimly focused frown. "Still, you'd think the death of Mr. X would encourage all the maniacs and freaks _not_ to come crawling out of the woodwork."

"Hey, I'm not gonna complain." Max smiled with a shrug, knowing it only meant that there would be more heads to smash.

Adam dug through his pockets, pushing the miscellaneous contents inside aside with his fingers to get at his iPhone. Tapping at it, he went on to call Murphy and to warn him of the situation. Zan did likewise, reaching into his trouser pockets to retrieve a much older, and simpler Nokia flip phone. His metallic fingers dialed General Ivan Petrov's personal number with haste. There was a chance that he would be asleep by this time, but Zan intended the call to be brief, and knew that it was worth rousing him out of sleep for.

"Yo, Murphy," Adam began into the conversation. Murphy's muffled sounding voice could be slightly heard as Adam listened to what he had to say. "Meet us over at the Wood Oak Monument, we're in something big. . ."

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Hello all! This is another fanfiction which I intend on being considerably long, set in the awesome universe of Streets of Rage. I've been a longtime fan of the series and have always wanted to do a standalone fanfiction story for. The first quick little thing I want to adress is that I wanted to use an existing movie for the heroes to emerge out of during their first appearance in this story. The problem is, I have zero knowledge on movies, much less ones that came out in a specific year. So unfortunately, I was forced to simply leave it unnamed. Though if anyone knows a film fitting the description of the one that the heroes saw, let me know and I can go back and edit when I have the time.

Secondly, my OC's. Since this takes place after SoRR, and since Mr. X is forever to be deceased, I've decided to add in OC's to keep the story going. I would just like to point out that my main OC, Salvo, is NOT a Mary Sue, due to her lack of perfection. Sure, she's a nice person, capable of controlling radioactive flames, teleportation, as is she adept at combat—armed and unarmed, but as shown in this chapter, Salvo tends to be impulsive toward Herminius, opting to rush in and attack without thinking straight. This is a hazardous approach to someone as dangerous as Herminius, and as Zan said, she could have been killed. I simply had to underline that she's not a Sue, because they tend to be flawless, contrary to Salvo, who, while awesome, makes mistakes just as any other human being. The character's design is very loosely based off that of the villain Dreadnought from Matthew Drury's Streets of Rage Saga series of novels. I made her similar enough that those who'd read SoR Saga could tell I'd based her off of Dreadnought (both appear to be at least cyborgs and use swords), but different enough so that she's her own character (Dreadnought being a disturbed and disfigured World War II criminal who actually was about 90% machine, and Salvo being a cool-headed, prepossessing college student who's human, through and through). Additionally, the main villain OC and titular antagonist of this story, Herminius, is based on both criminal bosses in general, and The Phantom (because of the mask). Know that other OC's will later come in the form of his top-ranking subordinates. If you are curious as to who they are, PM me, and I'll gladly share details.

Rather than the United States, the SoR universe is set in a fictional country known as Lima (for those who didn't already know). Being a fictional country, Lima obviously had no part in either of the World Wars. But since the military is (or COULD be) involved in the story, I added their armed forces into the timeline of WWII, and made them a formidable force to add an extra sense of danger for our heroes. Speaking of the army, which was discussed a little more in this chapter, will not become a major theme in this story. The main themes will remain what Streets of Rage is known for: the police force, vigilantism, fighting, with some robotics thrown in. War remains a minor theme here.

And lastly, something I'm glad to announce—as hinted in the story by the mention of the Grand Upper and the Kikoshou, the canon characters will retain their respective skills and superpowers from the series in this piece of writing. It could be just me, but it feels like too many SoR fanfiction writers replace the cast's unique abilities with guns. (Even Drury is guilty of this to an extent). So in this story, the only people that will wield guns are Murphy, and some of minor Helvete Corporation goons. Everyone else will be fighting through other means, be it with fists or (in Salvo's case only) melee weapons. The story itself will also continue to employ several dark themes, that may come as disturbing to some. I tend to be descriptive when it comes to heavy injury, so keep that in mind. Those who think they can't bear such things, I encourage you to turn back now. For those who can—I'll see you in the next chapter!

 _\- Stefan422_


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